2009 Nissan Altima S 2.5L inline 4 from North America
Summary:
A poorly built vehicle, with high maintenance costs
Faults:
1. Broken front axle.
2. Power steering failure.
3. Fuel pump issues (smells like gasoline).
4. Faded headlight assembly.
5. Poor A/C even with Freon refilled.
6. Missing muffler tips - either fallen, or dropped for unknown reason.
7. Cracked heat shield - noticeably loud while driving.
8. Chipping paint on doors, and roof.
9. Dashboard damage (under Texas weather) with black swirl marks.
10. Missing spare key.
General Comments:
This is car was a purchased by a rental car agency in OK, and subsequently sold to 6 other owners including a repossession in 2015. The spare key was missing (came with 1 key), and even though it was maintained at several dealership(s) in the southern states, the car does not hold up well with age.
As listed above, some of these repairs (including heat shield for $700) will easily total the car, which is why I cannot afford it. These vehicles are the equivalent of "throw away" vehicles, with their electronic steering locks, and poor build quality that make you question why this vehicle was being sold to begin with.
I bought this car from a temporary worker who was relocating out of country, but now it is clear to me that this car is more trouble that it is worth. While the driving experience is good, I am terrified about the idea of the CVT failing, or the steering lock failing soon. I am not happy with this car, and I want to trade it for something else.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 15th June, 2021
16th Jun 2021, 17:51
Owned a 2007 Nissan Altima for a while. Good solid car, but you sense or at least I sensed it couldn't take a lot of abuse. Just the way it was with newer Nissan products. The older ones would last forever. But many of those well built, older Nissans have come and gone.
If I was to buy a newer used Nissan Altima it would be 1 owner car with records. Mileage doesn't matter so much for Japanese cars because they like to be driven and not parked. Buying a used
car is like flipping a coin. Are you going to get lucky or not. The only ones I buy used now are Toyota, Lexuses, and Honda.
The scary part about buying a used car nowadays is 1 in 6 cars has been in some type of accident, but if you live in a big city, accident cars on the car lot for sale are probably higher than that. And if you are depending on Carfax to tell you if it's been in an accident or not, forget about it, because many of these cars fall through the cracks with clean pink slips that never make it onto a Carfax report.
16th Jun 2021, 17:06
12 years old with 160000 miles and was an ex rental car. Good going I would say. Nissan definitely are not as good as they were in the 1990s though, I'll give you that.